Guitar Center To Start Pedal Modding?

[EATyourGuitar]

you can't get away with a reroll not even once. they have an algorithm now that flags everything for a human accountant at corporate to review and read notes. if the notes or remarks for the reroll are missing then there will be an email or phone call from accounting asking why it happened. if there is no explanation, they will undo the reroll. if you remark the reroll as "manager helped with sale" or "manager had documented proof of sales lead logged in phone follow-ups file" etc.. you can do it but they also flag at a % of total store tickets rerolled. its all kinda silly since the commission is modified now. you must sell like $60,000 a month all by yourself if you want a commission check larger than $20.

[garcho]

So the market responded and gave customers what they wanted. Isn't this the premise of free market capitalism? Customers want something and the market responds?....

You're starting with the false premise it's a free market.  

You really think mom & pop have a fair fight against Bain?

If GC goes out of business and takes Fender et al. with them, is that what the consumers wanted? It's not the consumers fault their business model didn't include sustaining income beyond investment returns. I totally agree with you that consumers are part of the problem, though. If we as consumers can learn to settle for less but better, we'll all be better off. That's an oversimplification, but you know what I mean? Like all things in life, it's super complicated.

Does GC [or related corporate interests] own or have any controlling stake in a guitar pedal-making company?

[Paul Marossy]

I don't like corporatism because it chokes out all the small guys. And consumerism puts everything in a box that has to presented a certain way for people to accept it. Both go against the grain of my nature.

[wavley]

Does GC [or related corporate interests] own or have any controlling stake in a guitar pedal-making company?

I heard that they own DeltaLab, but I read it somewhere on the interwebz.  That might explain why it didn't resemble old DeltaLab stuff at all.

[Thecomedian]

Oh how I hate consumerism and corporatism.

People don't care about quality and value in general, they just care about the bottom line- price. Customers these days order from "the right side of the menu".

So the market responded and gave customers what they wanted. Isn't this the premise of free market capitalism? Customers want something and the market responds?....

yep. Corporations are amoral individual entities (by law they are considered an individual like a person). If we (read: majority consumers) wanted bludgeoned puppies, the market would supply it. Given that do you guys find the pre teen clothing options a disturbing allegory of capitalism gone mad?

Maybe it's not a better system than others, after all.

Librovox has Politics by Aristotle up for free as audio files. He essentially says that corporations are the root of evil, due to the way corporations use their power and their money to generate more power and money, without actually producing more product that might be useful.

[Paul Marossy]

Librovox has Politics by Aristotle up for free as audio files. He essentially says that corporations are the root of evil, due to the way corporations use their power and their money to generate more power and money, without actually producing more product that might be useful.

I go to the very root of it: the love of money is the root of all evil. And with LOTS of money you can have a lot of power, then comes the corruption. Plenty of examples of this everywhere you look.

Next: human farming. We are collectively like animals that have been conditioned thru what is essentially propaganda to buy whatever crap the corporations want to shove down our throats. So every time a new iWhatever comes out we immediately rush out to buy because we "can't live without it". Oh and then there is the oil companies getting BILLIONS of dollars of profit every quarter. But that's not enough for them, they still have to stick it to us at the pump. And on and on. I hate the whole thing. I swear sometimes that I was born into this world 200 years late.

And we can thank industrialism for all of the above, which simultaneously detroys the earth we live on while serving the corporations which never can make enough profit.

Can you tell that I don't like the world I live in very much?  

[Tony Forestiere]

Can you tell that I don't like the world I live in very much?  

Deep breath, Paul. DEEP breath. 
I know it is not much consolation, but I do feel better when I know in my heart of hearts that I do make a small difference when I vote with my wallet. You eat an elephant small bites at a time.

[garcho]

There's no such thing as capitalism. The human world is way, way too complicated to be broken down into ideologies. But I totally understand the frustration with today's mega-problems. When I start getting dark and bitter and hopeless about nowadays, I try to find some time to read history books. Any history books. They make me so grateful I was born in modern times. I shudder at the thought of being born 200 years ago! Although it'd be nice to see pre-automobile America, or anywhere for that matter...

I think I'm gonna walk in GC Chicago (for the first time in probably 10 years or more) and see if I can get a job modding pedals. For real. Just to see. Unless it's super part time, I will have to turn the job down even they do consider me but why not? I'll report back to you guys, after I quit.  

[Electron Tornado]

I think I'm gonna walk in GC Chicago (for the first time in probably 10 years or more) and see if I can get a job modding pedals. For real. Just to see. Unless it's super part time, I will have to turn the job down even they do consider me but why not? I'll report back to you guys, after I quit.  

First, start as a customer - "I heard you guys are going to to pedal mods. If someone wants a pedal modded here at GC, how does that work?" Let them tell you what their plan is, if they have one. Also ask what kinds of mods they offer.

Next, you can mention that if they are looking for someone to actually do the mods, that you can do pedal mods. If you really want to know the details of getting hired to do mods, talk to someone in a managerial position, not the guy or gal at the counter.

See what they say.

[Thecomedian]

There's a lot of "official" mods floating around for adding certain stacks to pedals, changing resistor sizes, or quality of caps/resistors in terms of +/-%, etc. This is probably the only thing they're talking about; stuff that's incredibly well known to work. take your own pedal in, and I can bet they wont touch it.

[DougH]

So the market responded and gave customers what they wanted. Isn't this the premise of free market capitalism? Customers want something and the market responds?....

You're starting with the false premise it's a free market.  

You really think mom & pop have a fair fight against Bain?

If GC goes out of business and takes Fender et al. with them, is that what the consumers wanted? It's not the consumers fault their business model didn't include sustaining income beyond investment returns. I totally agree with you that consumers are part of the problem, though. If we as consumers can learn to settle for less but better, we'll all be better off. That's an oversimplification, but you know what I mean? Like all things in life, it's super complicated.

Yup, I agree. It's super-complicated.

But consumer boycotts do work. If people quit supporting Wal-mart, they would eventually go out of business just like everyone else who loses share of customer dollars. Would take longer than a mom&pop. But it still could be done. Have to change consumer culture and attitudes first.

[Paul Marossy]

You eat an elephant small bites at a time.

Yes, this is true.

[petey twofinger]

i read this and wanted to share my tornado / work story .

in the early 90s i was in auto parts / hoods and fenders . a tornado showed up , and we heard on the radio a report of it tearing up this are where 3 junk yards used to exist . i called the first junk yard , " jerrys valley " , they hung up right away when i asked them what was going on . i called the second junk yard and there was all this laughing going on and joyous celebration . i go ' whats goin on man , did you guys see the tornado ? dude goes " did we see it ? the dang thing ripped thru jerrys valley and it tossed a dozen of his cars into our lot ... " heh . that was awesome .

personally i enjoy GC and sam ash quite a bit . i dont buy from them much , almost never . occasionally they have something used or a fantastic sale like the one spot / dano four pack i got for chicken feed .   i did order a squire for my kid from gc as it was my only option , i could not find a squire cyclone anywhere except online , and i wanted to return it if it was flawed . the box was hammered , the guitar was fine , the experience was very painful and i was furious when we left for good reason . we were treated awfully , but i will continue to stop in there from time to time just to look around . i do not enjoy dealing with staff though . i may not be steevie ray vai but i do not enjoy being treated like a complete tool , by guys with piercings , ink , all sorts of odd facial hair , and snarky attitudes . i keep my hands ion my pockets when shopping , i am extremely polite and i dont make small talk . if i do have a question i just expect folks to make some bit of effort , and not give me an immediate attitude . there is one employee with a huge bushy head of hair , he must do really well there , but he runs around the store like a madman . he almost knocked me over twice when we went to get the squire . he also " can i help you " -ed me twice . my advice to anyone who does spend any money there is haggle , haggle and try to get free stuff . but i bet all of that has changed now as well .

[Paul Marossy]

i do not enjoy dealing with staff though . i may not be steevie ray vai but i do not enjoy being treated like a complete tool , by guys with piercings , ink , all sorts of odd facial hair , and snarky attitudes . i keep my hands ion my pockets when shopping , i am extremely polite and i dont make small talk . if i do have a question i just expect folks to make some bit of effort , and not give me an immediate attitude

Sounds like my experience the one time I went to Ed Romans to buy my first Parker in 2005.  I never wanted to go back there again, and I didn't.

[Electron Tornado]

My GC experience is limited to a store in Ohio and one near Atlanta. Surprisingly enough, I've always had very good experiences with the staff. That's been limited to whoever is working the effects pedal counter that day. I've somehow been able to wander other parts of the stores unmolested. Sales staff with an attitude isn't limited to GC, or other big box stores, though.

[PDGoss]

I still fall back on the fact that the majority of so called Luthiers that GC employees are not true Luthiers. Some are and in a previous post I believe I pointed that out; however, there have been people that held that position in the past that were so bad that I was getting work pushed to me and the customer had already spent money with no results so I was hard press (in good conscious to charge enough). I ended up printing out things like PUP color codes and standard wiring diagrams that are still posted on the wall.

I probably brag about my youngest too much; but I paid an arm and a leg to send him to Luthier school for proper training and certification. He ended up teching for Nile, Morbid Angel and Symphony X. Little rascal can restring and setup a 7 string with a Floyd Rose in 13 minutes flat. He started teching for Nile at age 19; to impress the individual Rolling Stone ranks as the #6 best metal guitarist of all times isn't anything to discount or take lightly in my opinion.

The point is, (being repetitively redundant) GC doesn't have the workforce with the skill set to handle the stuff us guys do. As another poster stated, they'll no doubt ship it out or perhaps start stocking prefabricated stuff and the "tech" will simple swap guts or something.

Just speculation of course.

Pardon the all over the place; haven't been to sleep in about 40+ hours or eaten. Think I'll go find some food now that I think about it.

cuao 4 now.

[jimilee]

A tech at gc foe the most part, I'd say is like the manager, they guy that doesn't quit gets to he the manager. If you're fortunate enough to be there long enough and everyone else quits, the job is yours. I'm sure you can make way more money and have more qc doing it independently and enjoy what you do. My buddy owns a local music shop, and he has an amp guy that's independent. The guy shows up once a week, drops off repairs and picks up new ones. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

[DougH]

i do not enjoy dealing with staff though . i may not be steevie ray vai but i do not enjoy being treated like a complete tool , by guys with piercings , ink , all sorts of odd facial hair , and snarky attitudes . i keep my hands ion my pockets when shopping , i am extremely polite and i dont make small talk . if i do have a question i just expect folks to make some bit of effort , and not give me an immediate attitude

Sounds like my experience the one time I went to Ed Romans to buy my first Parker in 2005.  I never wanted to go back there again, and I didn't.

This has been my experience on and off my whole life at many mom & pop music stores (and mom & pop businesses in general to some extent). Some are okay but others just have too much attitude, and then cry about how they're losing to the big box stores. This is why I don't lose sleep over the big box stores, where in my experience, although the staff can be pretty dopey at times, they've also been friendly to me. The big exception to this for me was buying a TV from a local TV guy who was really helpful vs. the oblivious guy at Circuit City. But I have run into too many local music store guys with attitudes to be that sentimental about mom & pop stores.

I realize this varies from store to store, and area to area. But I will not patronize any place of business who acts like I should consider it a privilege that they let me in the door.

[wavley]

i do not enjoy dealing with staff though . i may not be steevie ray vai but i do not enjoy being treated like a complete tool , by guys with piercings , ink , all sorts of odd facial hair , and snarky attitudes . i keep my hands ion my pockets when shopping , i am extremely polite and i dont make small talk . if i do have a question i just expect folks to make some bit of effort , and not give me an immediate attitude

Sounds like my experience the one time I went to Ed Romans to buy my first Parker in 2005.  I never wanted to go back there again, and I didn't.

This has been my experience on and off my whole life at many mom & pop music stores (and mom & pop businesses in general to some extent). Some are okay but others just have too much attitude, and then cry about how they're losing to the big box stores. This is why I don't lose sleep over the big box stores, where in my experience, although the staff can be pretty dopey at times, they've also been friendly to me. The big exception to this for me was buying a TV from a local TV guy who was really helpful vs. the oblivious guy at Circuit City. But I have run into to too many local music store guys with attitudes to be that sentimental about mom & pop stores.

I realize this varies from store to store, and area to area. But I will not patronize any place of business who acts like I should it consider it a privilege that they let me in the door.

This is my experience with mom and pop stores too.  I have lived here for 6 years and it wasn't until 2 months ago that I finally convinced a store within 45 minutes of my house to stock my strings!  have gotten to the place where I have become very blunt with these people "D'addario gives retailers case pricing on single sets of strings  You will buy my loyalty, and you will guarantee that I will be in here at least once a month to buy several sets of strings.  This is something you want, because while I don't buy a lot of big ticket items, I spend A LOT of money on music."

Most of the time I just get a lecture about how my tone would be better if I would just use brand x's skinny roundwound strings.  You wouldn't believe how belligerent folks will get about this.  I can't tell you how many times I had to tell a sales guy "Look, I am a middle aged man who has been playing guitar for nearly 30 years and I'm not likely to change what I want to feel under my fingers or hear coming out of my amp.  I play short scale Fenders so I need to use big strings to keep the bridge from buzzing and I like the warm thumping sound of Jazz and Surf music, hence the need for flatwounds."

On the other hand GC and Ash just hand me my strings and ring me up.

There are good and bad things about both.  It's a little like indie record stores, you went there because the staff knew and loved music and you didn't get a blank stare when you asked for a somewhat obscure artist instead of the blank stare you get when you ask for the Beatles at the late Blockbuster music or F.Y.E., but when it gets to the point where the staff is just as ignorant about music or just plain rude, what's the point?  I was paying for the service of an indie, but not actually getting service.

[Electron Tornado]

  I was paying for the service of an indie, but not actually getting service.

People worry about the big box stores, but this is exactly where a small store can successfully compete - service and knowledge.